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I  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,  | 


Princeton,  N.  J.    w"' 


* 


«9^ 


Bequeathed  by  the  Hon.  E.  BOUDINOT,  LI^.D. 


Case.   Division  ., 


Booh\  ., 


6 


M 


B 


Vol.  3 


,f 


•"^^/  -y    ■ 


m.::.       i 


DISCOURSE. 


I  CORINTHIANS,  15.  53. 


For  this  corruptible  must  put  on   incorruption^  and 
this  mortal  must  put  on  immortality. 


THE  hope  of  existing  after  the  present  life 
A\'as  not  utterly  lost,  from  among  mankind,  even  a- 
midst  the  darkness  and  corruptions  of  paganism  ; 
but  the  prospect  was  so  obscure  and  the  hope  so  un- 
certain that  it  could  afford  but  small  consolation  in 
their  last  moments  to  the  wisest  and  most  virtuous 
men  of  the  heathen  world.  And,  to  all  others,  it 
was  so  blended  with  the  melancholy  phantoms  of  ^ 
superstitious  imagination  that  it  served  rather  to  op- 
press than  to  shed  any  comfort  on  the  hour  of  death. 
But,  in  the  gospel  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  the  doubt- 
ful expectations  of  nature  are  rendered  clear  and 
certain ;  the  obscurities  of  reason  are  enlightened ; 
and  to  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
there  is  added  a  principle  which  the  human  mind 
had  never  dared  before  to  conceive  ;  I  mean,  that 
of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  its  future  and 
eternal  re-union  with  the  soul  in  a  happy  state  of 
existence. 

This  doctrine,  which  is  peculiarly  precious  to 
man,  inasmuch  as  it  brings  our  future  existence 
more  within  the  comprehension  of  the  mind,  and 
gives  it  a  stronger  interest  in  the  heart,  was  re- 
ceived at  first  Avith  astonishment  and  incredulity 


equally  by  Jews  and  Greeks.  Against  the  objections 
or  the  doubts  of  the  one  and  of  the  other,  the 
apostle,  in  this  chapter,  demonstrates  both  its  pos- 
sibility, and  its  conformity  to  reason,  and  pointy 
out  the  unspeakable  consolation  which  the  pious 
hope,  that  this  corruptible  shall  put  on  mcorruption^ 
and  this  mortal  shall  put  on  immortalitij^  is  fitted  to 
impart  to  every  true  believer,  amidst  the  variouS 
trials  and  sorrows  of  this  life. 

Let  me  invite  you,  therefore,  to  employ  witli 
me  a  few  moments,  while  we  are  here  assembled 
in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  in  meditating  on 
the  resurrection  of  the  body — the  certainty,  and 
importance  of  the  doctrine,  its  practical  uses, 
and  its  spiritual  consolations.  And  may  it  im- 
part to  us  those  holy  comforts,  those  blessed  sup-' 
ports  under  all  the  distressing  vicissitudes  of  the 
world,  and  finally,  that  victory  over  the  fears  of 
death,  which  amidst  labors,  and  persecutions,  and 
the  certain  anticipations  of  martyrdom  for  the 
cause  of  his  Redeemer,  formed  the  joy  aiid  triumph 
of  the  apostle  himself! 

In  the  first  place,  let  us  contemplate  the  evi- 
dences of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  notwith- 
standing the  insurmountable  objections  which  the 
laws  of  nature  are  said  to  oppose  to  it. 

It  has  been  at  all  times,  as  well  as  in  the  age  of 
the  apostles,  an  objection  to  this  doctrine — With 
what  bodies  do  they  come?  Can  these  corporeal 
systems,  after  they  have  been  long  dissolved  into 
their  orginal  elements,  and  variously  dispersed 
by  winds  and  waves  in  a  thousand  different  direc- 
tions ;  after  they  have  successively  passed  perhaps 


into  a  thousand  different  bodies,  be  again  collect- 
ed, and  re-organized  in  the  same  body  which  per- 
ished at  death  ?  If  it  were  possible,  would  it  be  a 
reasonable  object  of  desire,  in  that  spiritual  and 
immortal  state,  that  the  soul  should  be  again 
united  to  a  sluggish  mass  which  might  be  regarded 
as  its  former  prison,  which  impaired  its  active 
powers,  and  was,  perhaps,  the  seat  of  all  the  er- 
rors of  reason,  and  of  all  the  disorders  of  the 
passions  ? 

The  sacred  writer,  who  presents  these  objec- 
tions, answers  them  by  a  beautiful  analogy,  taken 
from  the  grain  which  the  husbandman  casts  into 
the  earth.  It  seems  to  perish  ;  it  becomes  a  mass 
of  putrefaction,  like  the  body  laid  in  the  grave  ; 
but  still  there  is  a  delicate  and  almost  impercepti- 
ble germ  which  survives,  and  presently  assumes 
a  new  and  much  more  beautiful  form.  Can  Ave 
doubt  but  that  the  stalk,  the  foliage,  the  flowers 
which  display  such  beauty  to  the  eye,  and  the  fruit 
with  which  the  tree  is  loaded,  were  all  included 
in  that  minute  and  invisible  particle  which  receives 
a  new  life  in  the  midst  of  death  ?  And,  may  not 
the  soul,  (it  is  the  suggestion  of  an  ancient  pliiloso- 
pher)  in  parting  from  its  present  abode,  carry  along 
with  it  that  material  principle  which  shall  become 
the  germ  hereafter,  of  a  new  and  more  glorious 
organization  ?  Shall  we  deem  this  impossible,  be- 
cause the  fineness  and  sul>tilty  of  this  principle  at 
present,  eludes  our  perceptions  ?  But,  are  we  not 
constandy  surrounded  with  forms  of  matter  not 
less  imperceptible  to  sense  ?  Is  that  mysterious 
power  obvious  to  our  sight  or  feelings,  which 


points  the  needle  to  the  pole;  or  that  mightier 
influence  which  binds  to  one  centre  the  vast  orbs 
that  compose  our  system,  which,  however,  is 
constantly  operating  within  us  and  around  us  ? 

Learn  another  lesson  on  the  Resurrection  from  the 
numerous  transmutations  of  the  insect  tribes  which 
daily  pass  under  our  view.  A  deformed  and 
sluggish  grub  weaves  a  tomb  for  itself.  It  seems 
to  become  extinct ;  but,  in  a  little  time,  we  see 
it  mount  into  the  air  in  a  new  form,  disporting 
with  active  wing,  and  adorned  with  the  most  beau- 
tiful colours.  Of  spiritual  and  celestial  objects, 
which  are  so  far  above  the  reach  of  our  present 
faculties,  frequently  wecanjudgeonly  by  analogy. 
And  although  such  analogies  can  never  convey 
adequate  images  of  those  things  which  eye  hath 
not  seen^  and  of  which  it  hath  not  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man  to  conceive^  yet  they  serve  to  throw 
some  feeble  rays  of  light  upon  subjects,  otherwise 
so  obscure,  and  to  offer  some  foundation  on  which 
the  mind,  exhausted  by  its  efforts  to  conceive  them, 
can  rest.  Look  round  thee  then,  O  man  !  who  think - 
est  that  the  dead  cannot  be  raised  from  the  dust, 
and  from  that  profound  oblivion  in  which  they  seem 
to  be  forever  lost ;  and  does  not  all  nature  teach 
thee  important  lessons,  and  present  thee  with  im- 
pressive images  of  the  future  resurrection  of  the 
saints  ?  Behold  the  resurrection,  the  new  creation, 
which  every  vernal  season  produces !  Do  we  not 
see  plants  and  flowers  of  every  species ;  in  a  word, 
all  the  glories  of  the  year,  springing,  if  I  may  speak 
so,  from  the  tomb  of  winter  ?  These  images,  in- 
deed, are  only  imperfect  illustrations,  adapted  to  the 


weakness  of  our  senses,  of  that  great  object  of 
faith ;  the  only  solid  and  immovable  foundation 
of  a  christian's  hope  is,  the  infallible  promise  of 
the  spirit  of  truth :  But  now  is  Christ  risen^  and 
become  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  sleep*  The 
time  is  coming  when  all  they  who  are  in  their 
graves  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  man,  and 
shall  come  forth,  they  that  have  done  well  to  the 
resurrection  of  life  and  they  that  have  done  evil  to 
the  resurrection  of  damnation. 

Another  objection  against  this  doctrine  is  drawn 
from  the  ills  and  inconveniences,  to  which  the  soul 
is  subjected  by  its  union  with  the  body  in  the 
present  life.  This  sluggish  and  unwieldy  mass 
of  matter,  is  supposed  to  be  rather  the  prison  than 
the  helpful  companion  of  the  active  spirit,  to  cloud 
and  darken  the  clearness  of  its  preceptions,  and  to 
oppress  and  enchain  the  activity  of  its  powers. 

Although  this  should  be  true  of  the  present 
gross  and  disordered  bodies  which  we  inhabit, 
yet  such  is  the  nature  anil  order  of  human  spirits 
that  it  is  only  by  being  united  to  some  corporeal 
and  organized  system  that  they  can  receive  any 
ideas.  And  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  all  that 
is  gross,  all  that  is  disordered,  all  that  is  impure, 
shall  be  forever  separated  from  the  bodies  of  the 
saints  raised  to  hiimortal  life ;  and  their  powers, 
their  activity,  and  glory  shall  correspond  with  the 
exalted  rank  which  the  soul  shall  hold  in  the  scale 
of  being  in  her  <:elestial  state.  Do  you  ask,  then,  if 
they  can  be  the  same  bodies  which  we  inhabited 
here,  which  shall  assume  such  a  different  and  glori- 
')us  appearance  ?  My  brethren  do  ^^T  not  continually 


behold  the  same  elements  capable  of  receivint^  the 
most  various  forms  ?  What  resemblance  is  there 
between  those  beautiful  and  active  tribes  which 
fill  the  air  with  their  harmony,  and  the  lifeless  egg 
from  which  they  have  s})rung  ?  Do  not  the  same 
elements  compose  the  unsightly  clay  which  we 
trample  beneath  our  feet,  and  the  resplendent 
diamond  which  glitters  in  the  crowns  of  princes  ? 
The  lightning  which  in  its  destructive  course, 
rends  oaks  and  rocks  to  pieces,  and  the  mild  and 
glorious  rays  of  the  sun  that  give  life,  and  health, 
and  beauty  to  the  whole  universe !  Accordingly 
the  apostle  hath  said,  all  flesh  is  not  the  same,  in 
its  outward  form  and  visible  appearance  ;  there  is 
one  flesh  ofmen^  and  another  of  beasts  ;  there  is 
one  glory  of  the  sun  and  another  glory  ofths  ?noon^ 
and  another  glory  of  the  stars,  though  all  proceed- 
ing from  the  same  light.  Not  less  difference,  O 
believers  !  may  you  expect  to  find  between  your 
present  tenements  of  clay,  which,  at  death,  re- 
turn to  their  original  dust,  and  those  celestial  tem- 
ples in  which  the  glorified  spirit  shall  dwell  for- 
ever. Raised  to  heaven  by  the  power  and  love 
of  your  Redeemer,  to  inhabit  those  glorious  worlds 
of  hght  above,  this  corporeal  system  will  be  con- 
formed in  beauty  and  perfection  to  its  immortal 
habitations.  This  eo?'rupti/)le  sliall  put  on  incor- 
ruption,  and  this  mortal  shall  put  on  immortality. 
Soivn  in  weakness  it  shall  he  raised  in  power ; 
sown  in  dishonor,  it  shall  be  raised  in  glory  ;  sown 
a  natural  or  gross  and  animal  body,  it  shall  be 
raised  a  spiritual  body  ;  that  is,  a  body  infinitely 
refined  and  purified  from  the  dregs  of  matter,  and 


possessing,  at  once,  both  the  rapid  energy  and  the 
imperishable  nature  of  spirit.  It  shall  there  be  in- 
vested with  new  powers  and  be  fitted  with  new 
organs,  adapted  to  its  celestial  state  ;  and,  having 
attained  its  highest  perfection,  shall  shine  with 
undecaying  lustre  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
therefore,  as  it  is  explicitly  taught  in  the  holy 
scriptures,  so  it  contains  nothing  which  violates 
reason,  and  which  is  not  even  supported  and  ren- 
dered credible  by  the  course  of  nature. 

Let  us  then  in  the  next  place,  take  a  brief  review 
of  the  importance  of  this  doctrine.  I  mean  not 
merely  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
but  that  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  its 
immortal  existence  in  re-union  with  the  soul. 

In  the  first  place,  it  meets,  in  the  best  possible 
manner,  our  ideas  and  hopes  of  happiness.  Spi- 
rits there  may  be  of  a  superior  order,  which  have 
no  connexion  with  any  material  system,  and  are 
not  dependent  for  their  knowledge  or  their  enjoy- 
ments on  any  sensible  organs.  But  of  their 
modes  of  existence,  and  their  sources  of  happiness, 
we  can  frame  no  conception.  All  our  ideas,  and 
all  our  pleasures  come  to  us  through  the  medium 
of  sense.  Our  spirits  are  of  such  an  order,  as 
has  been  before  remarked,  that  their  knowledge, 
their  felicity,  their  perfection  depend  on  their  con- 
nexion in  some  way,  with  a  corporeal  system; 
every  thing  connects  us  with  the  body,  every  thing 
attaches  us  to  the  body  ;  even  the  severest  afflic- 
tions, the  keenest  pains,  do  not  quench  in  the  soul 
this  strong  and  inextinguishable  love  of  its  com- 


10 


panion,  unless  guilt,  by  creating  despair,  has  first 
induced  a  dread  of  future  existence.  Hence  the 
apostle  has  said  ;  JFe  who  arc  in  this  tabernacle  do 
groan,  being  burdened,  not  that  we  would  be  un- 
clothed;  not  that  it  is  the  object  of  these  anxious 
desires  to  be  disembodied,  but  clothed  upon  with 
our  house,  which  is  from  heaven  ;  with  that  celes- 
tial,  that  regenerated  body  which  shall  be  freed 
from  all  the  pains  and  imperfections  of  this  mor- 
tal flesh,  and  which  is  only  our  present  nature 
exalted  to  its  ultimate  perfection  and  glory.  The 
earnest  expectation  of  the  creature,  continues  the 
same  apostle,  waitethfor  the  manifestation  of  the 
sons  of  God,  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just.  The 
whole  creation  groaneth,  and  even  those  who  have 
received  the  most  precious  gifts  of  the  spirit  groan 
within  themselves,  waiting  for  the  redemption  of 
the  body.  What,  indeed,  would  be  the  pleasure 
of  existence  to  the  soul,  if  we  can  suppose  it  con- 
scious of  existence,  deprived  ofaR^ion,  and  the 
aids  of  the  senses,  which  are  at  present,  the  only 
inlets  of  its  knowledge,  and  the  chief  sources  of 
its  enjoyments  ? 

The  christian  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  then, 
corresponds  w  ith  the  dearest  hopes  and  wishes  of 
the  human  heart.  It  assists,  likewise  the  percep- 
tions of  faith.  We  are  not  now  left  in  total  uncer- 
tainty and  darkness  with  rea:ard  to  the  nature  of  our 
future  being.  Some  conjectures  we  can  frame 
concerning  it,  without  the  hazard  of  being  lost 
entirely  in  the  unsubstantial  regions  of  fancy..  A 
fuuire  existence  is  no  longer  an  inscrutible  mys- 
itn-.     Althoup-h  it  offers  to  our  hoi)es,  a  condition 


11 


of  being  inconceivably  improved  above  the  pres- 
ent, still  we  can  discern  between  them  some  points 
of  resemblance,  which  present  to  us  ideas  on  that 
subject,  at  once  intelligible  to  reason,  and  infinite- 
ly precious  to  the  human  heart.  There,  believer ! 
your  faculties  will  be  employed  as  here,  but  with 
an  activity  and  vigor,  inconceivably  augmented, 
in  searching  into  the  wonderful  works  of  God ;  in 
admiring  the  order,  the  beauty  and  harmony  of  the 
universal  system  ;  in  adoring,  and  with  the  angels, 
endeavoring  to  penetrate  the  astonishing  myste- 
ries of  divine  grace  to  man.  Blessed  and  eternal 
sources  of  knowledge,  and  of  happiness!  The  fa- 
culties which  you  now  feebly  exert  in  the  search 
of  truth,  in  the  love  and  service  of  your  Creator, 
your  Redeemer,  and  your  fellow  men,  will  be  new 
created  in  celestial  vigor,  and  raised  in  a  state  of 
undescribable  excellence  and  perfection.  All  the 
obstacles  to  your  advancement  in  knowledge,  at 
present,  arising  from  the  narrowness  of  this  corpo- 
real sphere  ;  the  imperfection  of  these  mortal  pow- 
ers, the  inactivity  and  sluggishness  of  these  gross 
and  earthly  organs,  will  be  forever  removed. — 
That  carnal  and  disordered  mass  which  now  ren- 
ders the  body  the  seat  of  impure  passions,  and  im- 
pedes the  holy  aspirations  of  the  soul,  will  be  re- 
fined and  purified.  A  body  of  celestial  and  incor- 
ruptible light ;  a  spiritual  hody^  as  it  is  stiled  by 
the  apostle,  that  is,  a  body,  active  and  unembar- 
rassed in  its  movements,  like  spirit,  rapid  as  im- 
agination and  thought,  will,  in  heaven,  be  the  fit 
instrument  of  the  glorified  soul  in  its  sublime  and 
blissful  employments. 


i2 

From  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  tht 
same  body  results  another  happy  anticipation,  the 
future  knowledge  of  our  pious  friends  with  whom 
we  have  been  connected  on  earth ;  the  re-union 
in  the  highest  felicity,  of  the  same  hearts  which 
have  been  united  here  in  the  tenderest  affections. 
Delightful  and  ravishing  hope !  What  pictures 
may  imagination  frame  of  friendships  renewed  in 
heaven  ;  of  the  mutual  joys  of  pious  friends  who 
meet  on  that  hapjjy  and  eternal  shore,  escaped 
from  all  the  ills  and  dangers  of  life ;  of  their  sweet 
intercourse,  purified  from  all  the  passions  and 
weaknesses  of  the  flesh  which  disturb  the  harmony 
of  this  world  ;  of  the  range  they  may  be  permitted 
to  enjoy  in  each  other's  societ}^  among  the  innu- 
merable glories  of  the  heavenly  world  to  nourish 
their  devotion,  and  to  diversify  their  happiness ; 
of  those  flights  which  they  may  be  allowed  to  take 
together  into  distant  provinces  of  the  universal 
empire  of  God,  to  collect  the  knowledge  of  nature, 
or  to  admire  and  adore  him  in  the  astonishing 
operations  of  his  hands  ;  or  of  the  rapture  with 
which  every  ray  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness  will 
penetrate  their  hearts  when  they  turn  their  faces 
towards  the  heavenly  Zion,  the  more  immediate  re- 
sidence of  the  divine  glory  to  raise  their  common 
devotions  to  the  Father  of  the  universe,  and  to  re- 
cognize at  the  foot  of  his  throne,  their  mutual  and 
boundless  obligations  to  redeeming  love.  But  re- 
straining all  unlicensed  excursions  of  fancy ;  ex- 
quisite, and  now  ineflable,  must  be  the  felicity, 
springing  from  a  thousand  different  sources  w^iich 
you    shall  enjoy  from  meeting,  iu  those  blissful 


13 


afid  everlasting  habitations,  the  friends  whom  you 
have  most  tenderly  and  aft'ectionately  loved  upon 
earth.  Oh  !  how  is  the  religion  of  our  ever  bles- 
sed Saviour  adapted  to  the  best,  and  most  excel- 
lent feelings  of  human  nature  !  How  is  it  fitted  to 
cherish  the  noblest  and  sweetest  sympathies  of  the 
human  heart!  Away  with  that  cold  philosophy 
tvhich  would  destroy  these  precious  consolations ! 
which,  at  death,  would  devote  our  existence  to 
eternal  oblivion,  and  hopelessly  rend  asunder  those 
delightful  unions  which  form  the  dearest  portion 
of  ourselves ;  the  chief  joy  of  our  being !  Yes, 
christian  friends  !  beloved  relatives  !  though  you 
may  be  separated  by  death  from  those  whom  you 
have  most  loved ;  although  you  may  often  be 
clothed  ^vith  tlie  emblems  of  mourning  w^hich  but 
feebly  express  the  deep  affliction  which  penetrates 
3-our  hearts,  religion  points  you  to  a  source  of  di- 
vine and  eternal  consolations :  You  are  separated 
for  a  moment,  only  to  be  restored  to  each  other  in 
a  most  blissful  and  eternal  union.  A  tear,  a  pang 
you  are  allowed  to  give  to  nature ;  but  it  is  the 
command  of  the  gospel,  weep  not  as  those  wlw 
hove  110  hope.  Jesus!  Saviour!  Who  art  the 
first  fruit  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead  !  Who 
art  thyself  the  resurrection  and  the  life  !  We  adore 
and  bless  thee  who  hast  given  this  consolation  to 
suffering  humanity ! 

The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body 
seems  also  10  be  intimately  connected  with  our  ac- 
countable state  in  this  world,  and  with  our  future 
judgment.  In  this  view  it  will  have  the  most  im- 
portant moral  influence  upon  the  conduct  of  man- 


14. 


kind.  If  the  soul  were  not  to  be  re-united  to  tb(* 
body,  not  being  the  same  persons  hereafter,  that 
we  are  here,  might  we  not  lose  the  consciousness 
of  a  former  existence,  and  of  our  accountabihty 
for  the  actions  of  a  being,  in  all  respects,  so  dift'e- 
rent  ?  But  believing  in  the  resurrection  of  the  bo- 
dy, in  the  completeness  of  the  same  person,  in  the 
consciousness  which  each  one  shall  have  of  all  that 
he  has  done  in  a  previous  state  of  existence,  then 
every  action,  every  word,  every  thought,  becomes 
important  in  reference  to  eternity ;  and  is  continu- 
ally impressing  some  colour,  or  some  shade  of  co- 
lour on  our  everlasting  destinies.  The  body  which 
shall  be  raised  being  included  in  the  present,  be- 
ing of  its  substance,  having  the  same  orgaiTTzation, 
the  vvhole  man  shall  preserve  the  same  dispositions, 
habits,  and  affections,  which  form  the  character  in 
the  present  life.  These  shall  decide  our  condition 
in  happiness  or  in  misery,  on  which  the  judgment 
of  heaven  shall  fix  its  everlasting  seal.  What  we 
have  been,  we  shall  be  forever.  The  impressions 
which  we  receive,  the  piu\suits  in  which  we  have 
been  engaged,  the  inclinations  which  have  been 
created  and  cherished  in  the  heart,  in  our  proba* 
tionary  existence  shall  form  the  basis  of  our  char- 
acter throughout  an  immortal  duration. 

What,  then,  are  the  conclusions,  what  are  the  ex- 
h.ortations  we  should  derive  from  these  serious  and 
interesting  truths'?  The  same  which  the  apostle 
has  already  urged  on  all  christians.  Let  not  sm 
7'eign  ill  your  mortal  bQcIic,^.  Purify  }-.ourselves 
liom  all  Jilthbwss  of  the  fesh  and  spirit.  Dishonor 
not  your  bodies  by  intemj)t;rance  and  lust,  for  tlieij 


15 

are  the  temples  of  the  living  God.  And  never  let. 
it  escape  your  memory,  and  attention,  in  whatever 
you  undertake,  or  do,  in  necessary  business,  or  in 
lawful  amusement,  in  the  plans  of  deliberate  design, 
or  under  the  impulse  of  more  sudden  passion,  that 
we  shall  all  appear  before  the  Judgment  seat  of 
Christy  to  receive  according  to  ivhat  we  have  done 
in  the  body^  whether  it  be  good^  or  whether  it  be 
evil. 

Christians !  What  sublime,  and  glorious  pros- 
pects does  our  holy  religion  present  to  the  imagi- 
nation ;  what  blessed  and  delightful  hopes  to  the 
heart !  I  speak  of  sincere  believers.  For  although 
the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  applies  also  to  the 
wicked  who  will  rise  to  shame  and  everlasting  con- 
tempt ;  yet  the  apostle  in  this  passage,  confines  his 
reflections  wholly  to  the  destiny  of  the  righteous. 
But  what  tongue  of  men  or  of  angels,  can  describe 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  the  celestial  Eden,  the 
paradise  of  God,  those  scenes  of  everlasting  peace 
and  blessedness,  those  mansions  illuminated  by  the 
eternal  splendors  of  the  Son  of  righteousness,  those 
bodies  of  light,  those  souls  of  fire  ?  It  would  re- 
quire the  eloquence  of  heaven  to  speak  of  them 
as  they  deserve ;  to  understand  them  fully  would 
require  the  ripened  powers  of  immortality.  Far 
eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  hath  ear  heard,  neitfier  hath 
it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive  the  things 
ivkich  God  hath  prepared  for  those  who  love  him. 
Christians !  disciples  and  servants  of  the  Lord  Je- 
sus Christ!  are  you  destined  to  such  glory  and 
happiness  ?  Have  you  the  same  foundation  for  this 
precious  hope  as  for  your  religion  itself?  Let  it 


16 


prove  to  you  tlie  most  powerful  motive  to  culti* 
vate  in  your  hearts  those  aftections  of  piety,  in  your 
lives  those  habits  of  holiness,  which  will  prepare 
you  for  your  eternal  existence  in  the  heavens.  By 
temperance,  by  purity,  by  the  exercise  of  every 
virtue,  endeavor  to  assimilate  more  and  more  these 
perishing  bodies,  to  that  pure  and  celestial  nature 
in  which  you  shall  hereafter  behold  the  glory  of 
God. 

Listen,  christians,  to  one  reflection  more  on  this 
interesting  subject !  The  hope  of  the  resurrection 
strips  death  of  its  greatest  terrors.  Death  is  no 
longer  what  it  appears  to  be — -the  destruction  of 
our  being.  It  yields  to  the  grave  only  the  gros- 
sest parts  of  these  mortal  bodies.  The  finer  esr 
sence  shall  still  cleave  to  the  soul,  and  be  improv- 
ed with  immortal  vigor  and  glory  at  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  just.  The  stroke  of  death  shall  cause 
no  intermission  in  the  consciousness  of  a  happy 
existence.  Even  if  the  soul  itself,  according  to 
the  opinion  of  some  good  men,  should  sleep  till 
the  revivification  of  universal  nature,  there  is  no 
perception  of  time  in  the  insensibility  of  sleep. 
The  moment  of  our  dissolution  shali  touch  on  that 
of  our  restoration  to  life.  The  grave,  sanctified 
by  the  death,  triumphed  over  by  the  resurrection 
of  our  blessed  Saviour,  is  now,  to  all  his  disciples, 
only  the  gate  to  a  new,  a  glorious,  and  immortal 
existence.  This  corruptible  shall  put  on  incorrup- 
tion^  afid  this  mortal  shall  put  on  immortality.  O 
Death  !  where^  then  is  thy  sting  ?  0  grave  !  where 
■is  thy  victory  F  Thanks  be  to  God  who  giveth  us 
the  victory  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord ! 

Amen  ! 


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